Another sad tomato tale

[Tomato Head]

More a tragedy really. My tomato plants finally grew up and fled the nest, making their new home in my specially purchased blowaway out the front. Intially my fears were based around lack of sunlight, then I discovered they would actually get some sun during the middle of the day. All was going well and after several days of bringing them in at night, they finally spent the night outside last night and I planned to plant them into their final pots this weekend.

Today I have returned from work to discover there is a reason blowaways are called blowaways. Mine has been retrieved by a neighbour 4 times. It is now secured to a drainpipe but sadly all my tomato plants are destroyed - windswept, dehydrated and just generally battered Unfortunately they were still in fairly small pots (standing in a flexi tub) as I hadn't had time to put them into their final pots/growbags and didn't want to do that anyway until I was sure I wouldn't need to bring them in at night any more. So they have been tipped up and blown all over the place. I have one or 2 plants still indoors as backup so can try again with those, but I do wonder whether they will meet the same fate.

I'd put the remaining plants outside but I have a few concerns

1. the temperature in the blowaway today has reached 42 degrees (lowest was 19). That was with the front open. It is in what I thought was a sheltered position - against a wall and with a tree nearby. In fact, my initial worry was that it wouldn't be warm enough as it's pretty shaded there most of the day. Should I just dispense with the blowaway? will the combination of heat and wind just kill anything I put out there? It is a bit blustery today but I really didn't think it was that bad. It's unlikely to be like this on a regular basis but I can't guarantee lack of wind for them.

2. watering - I watered them last night (from the bottom) and actually gave them more than intended as it came out a bit fast! This morning there was still water in the tubs/saucers so I didnt give them any more. The leaves on most now are totally shrivelled up. Is that due to lack of water or more the effect of the wind?

When the wind dies down I plan to go out and see if any are retrievable and worth putting into a grow bag or larger pot but I fear all the ones currently outside have had it.

[zazen999]

Get your poor bedraggled plants, plant them back up in big pots - and leave them out on the soil/patio/drive/decking. Give them a few days and they should recover. Don't let them dry out though.

If you are going to use a blowaway - get it securely anchored down.

[flowertot]

Aw I feel for you, soul destroying after you've been nurturing them. My Blowaway polytunnel ended up in the middle of a field a few months back Ive now got it anchored down with 10 40cm corkscrew things I bought off ebay. I put my best Tomato plants in there and put my stragglers in the ground - having said that the stragglers now seem to be doing better -typical eh?

[Florence Fennel]

A similar thing happened to me the year before last TH. The tomatoes weren't in the blowaways (3 blew away) but were lined up against the wall and they all took a gale force blast. With encouragement from Zaz ^^^ I planted most of them up again (she told me they were tougher than they look) and some did recover. Last year I tried to drown them and again Zaz ^^^ and Taff gave me the encouragement to try and rescue them and to a certain extent it worked. This year I was determined there would be no tragedy, but my efforts have been partly foiled by buying carp compost from Wickes. I've replanted some that really look like failures and I'm keeping my fingers firmly crossed. I abandoned the blowaways (the wind whipped off the covers and then proceeded to dismantle the metal even though they had sandbags on the bottom shelf) and have attached what I call a "stayput" to the wall. Try not to turn a drama into a crisis and salvage what you can. Put the failures, should you have any, down to experience, as I have. I love this growing lark. Hope you feel a bit better now you've heard my story! Onwards and upwards.

[Tomato Head]

I have been out on a bit of a rescue mission and a few of them look like they could be retrievable, if only this wind would die down. I have put one into a tomato grow bag and another into a morrisons flower bucket. I don't have enough compost to do any more, except maybe one more morrisons bucket.

This weekend's mission was to get them potted on into larger pots and put canes in. I am working tomorrow so won't be able to get them sorted properly until Sunday. I am struggling to keep the blowaway secured. It is tied - but only with string - on one side to a drainpipe. I have a bag of compost securing the other side. The main problem is with the top of it as it is trying to take off and I'm worried the pieces will come apart. I'm now realising how flimsy it is. I may have to dispense with it altogether and let the tomatoes take their chance without it.

Does anybody know where I can get a tray of the size to go under a growbag? I saw lots a few weeks ago - including wilkos - but they have none now. I was hoping to stand my morrisons buckets on one.

I feel devastated. I've nurtured them from little seeds, tended to their every need and watched them grow up into tomato plants you could be proud of. And yes, I'll admit it - I even gave one or two of them names I hope I can sort something out but I feel at a bit of a loss now as to how I can protect them. Even the ones I've put into the buckets and which are tied to canes, are having their leaves tossed around by the wind. When the weather turned warm I thought everything was going to be ok - I hadn't factored wind into the equation.

This is my first real setback. I've had some beetroot seedlings sat on by a cat, a tomato plant knocked over and snapped in two by a cat, and one or two things that just haven't thrived but yesterday I harvested the first things I have ever grown - some rocket and a teeny, weeny radish - and was feeling all excited. Oh well, these things are sent to try us. If the worst comes to the worst I can always buy some new plants from the garden centre and start over.

[veggiechicken]

This may be an extreme idea, but if you put the blowaway on its side, so that it was horizontal you would be able to give your plants a bit of shelter with less risk of the thing blowing away.
Don't be disheartened - we all have losses and tomatoes are more robust than you think!

[Florence Fennel]

TH if they don't look as though you can replant them, what about trying Colin's trick (PotsTubsDustbins)? He cuts the top part of the plant and puts them in deep water. They grow lots of roots and then can be planted up. Worth a try. It's rotten when this happens, but try and make the best of it. I do feel for you chuck. Chin up and carry on. Like you say, if they fail you can still buy some plants. I thought I'd kissed goodbye to all my Black Cherry tomatoes, but I managed to hook up with Percy Verance and I'm giving them a go. At least the weather is warm, so you might have a fighting chance. Good luck.

[Tomato Head]

I am slightly more encouraged now as I don't think they are all beyond rescue. It's difficult to do much right now due to wind out there and everything (including the plastic door on the blowaway) blowing all over the place and making it difficult to actually do anything. I will go out later and give them some more water, but I think the best thing is just to leave them until tomorrow now. Hopefully the weather will be less windy and I can take stock. I also intend to buy some more compost tomorrow so will be able to pot any survivors nice and deep in morrisons buckets.

I also have 3 plants still indoors. They are looking healthy, if a bit leggy, so if the ones outside look like they've had it I will put these ones outside but get them straight into buckets and tied to canes. Plus I also have 6 red robin plants indoors. So all is not lost!

Good idea about putting the blowaway on it's side. I might try that. Can someone tell me whether the high temperature in the blowaway is going to kill them? I'm amazed it got to 42 (yesterday's highest temp was 35). If it's going to get that hot I might be best off getting rid. Will they be best off with the higher temperature and some shelter or a lower temperature but less shelter? They only get sun for a couple of hours a day so they won't be at that high temperature all day long.

[Florence Fennel]

If you can use the blowaway on it's side, your plants must be small enough to salvage?I used to leave the door of the blowaways open when I had young tomatoes in there and I draped them with voile curtains so they didn't get the full fury of the hot sun. They like it warm and humid, not hot. I'm glad to hear you're feeling more positive TH. When your leggy indoor toms are potted deep, they will race away

[taff]

I sort of know how youfeel. I crisped up an entire tray of one of my favourite type of tomato, it looks like only 3 will recover enough to grow on [crisped up the growing tip innit, doh!] even though I wil perservere with 10 of them.
If they're just bashed, they'll probablylive, if they've snapped, get the top fo the snapped one and stickit in either moist compost, or a contraption with water, until it grows new roots, then plant out.
B&Q do grobag trays, quite cheap, i got myself one a few weeks ago half price.
what you can do with your blowaway is make two tiny holes either side of the teo back poles about halfway up, thread some sturdy thread through and tie those to something. I did it with mine to keep it anchored against a fence, one side was tied to an upright, the other was tied to a nail I knocked into the fence.

[Tomato Head]

If you can use the blowaway on it's side, your plants must be small enough to salvage?

They are about 18 inches tall but a bit on the leggy side and were in small pots without canes so not able to cope with being bashed around. I have been able to salvage all but 2 so I'll see how they get on today. The plants themselves would fit in the blowaway on it's side because it's quite wide, but the canes won't (my neighbour put some canes in a couple).

[alldigging]

1. the temperature in the blowaway today has reached 42 degrees (lowest was 19). That was with the front open. It is in what I thought was a sheltered position - against a wall and with a tree nearby. In fact, my initial worry was that it wouldn't be warm enough as it's pretty shaded there most of the day. Should I just dispense with the blowaway? will the combination of heat and wind just kill anything I put out there?

My greenhouse has got to 42 degrees this week - it might have been over that but I don't have the energy to go downstairs to find the remote to find out.
My tomatoes are fine. I have been watering them mornings and evenings - but I can check on them during the day as I work from home.

Water is vital for them - the wind will batter them about but if they dry out they will die.

What size pots are they in at the moment? Mine are in pot noodle tubs because they're a decent depth so the plant can have plenty of compost and moisture. I'll be potting them up into their final buckets in a week. I am a bit later with mine than I should be - but I think I thought that last year too and they soon catch up once they're in big pots.

[mrbadexample]

I have been out on a bit of a rescue mission and a few of them look like they could be retrievable,

I'd echo what Zazen said - replant the lot no matter how sorry they look. Tomatoes are nothing if not tough - you can rip one in half and the rooty end will still grow. Come to think about it, the top half probably would too with a bit of TLC.

All is not lost.

[Tomato Head]

2 of them have had to go as they were snapped and totally shrivelled up. I have another 4 that look as though they are recovering from their ordeal, plus both my red alert bush plants are looking ok. I am still undecided about whether to pot up the other 4 I still have indoors (mainly due to the cost of compost!). So all is definitely not lost. At least it wasn't when I left for work this morning. Who knows what I'll find when I get home.

My neighbour gave them some water but tbh I don't think they needed that as they are way too wet at the moment - verging on waterlogged - so I am hoping they dry out a bit today.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Leggy damaged plants can usually be recovered, I had to do all my Sungold this year. As Auntie Flo pointed out I use the milk bottle. Those that are snapped or the roots are badly damaged simple cut of the top 6" or so and place the stem in a milk bottle full of water. After 7/10 days roots will start to grow, give them a few more days to get plenty of roots and plant up. Keep the compost wetter than usual for a few days to allow the roots to get used to taking what they need from the compost.

Colin